Electronic filing has become a popular method of filing tax returns with taxing authorities. Typically, a user (e.g. a taxpayer) may prepare an electronic tax return with a desktop or web-based tax preparation application on a computer (e.g., a desktop computer). The tax preparation application may present a long list of tax-related questions to the user in order to collect the information necessary to create the tax return. The list of questions may be presented to the user through a series of interview screens that prompt the user for specific tax related information. After the user has provided the necessary tax information, the tax preparation application may create an electronic tax return for the user. Subsequently, the tax preparation application may (automatically or upon user request) submit the tax return to an electronic filing service for electronic filing with a taxing authority. The electronic filing server may perform any necessary formatting changes to the tax return and electronically file the tax return with a taxing authority (e.g., the Internal Revenue Service).
After receiving the electronically filed tax return, the taxing authority may check for numerous errors (e.g., errors of the user-supplied tax information) within the tax return. If an error is detected, the taxing authority may send a notification to the electronic filing server that indicates an error has been detected in the electronically filed tax return. In response, the electronic filing server may send a general error notification to the tax preparation application. The user may be sent an email notification that an error occurred. In order to determine and/or correct the error, it is typically necessary for the user to access the tax preparation application (and a device on which the application is configured to run) that was used to prepare the electronically filed tax return. Thus, it may be necessary for the user to navigate through the series of interview screens, correct errors of the tax information, and resubmit the tax return to the electronic filing service for electronic filing. Additionally, the user may not be able to receive error notifications and/or correct errors while away from the user's computer on which the application is configured to run.